1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to audio reply and message systems for operator interaction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Audio reply systems have taken the form of tape recorders, phonograph records, and other well known electromechanical devices. Speech is recorded on a medium such as a magnetic tape, then played back as required to provide the audio message.
Automatic playback devices are known in the prior art such as with telephone answering systems that answer with recorded instructions on a first magnetic tape, then record a telephone message on a second magnetic tape. These electro-mechanical systems are typically bulky, unreliable, and inflexible; which characteristics are inherent in electro-mechanical devices. Also, these prior art arrangements only provide sequential access for generating fixed messages and do not provide the capability for general message build-up. Therefore, multitudes of potential applications have not been feasible in the prior art due to the limitations of this equipment.
Electronic musical instruments such as electronic organs are known in the prior art. Although these instruments do not provide speech messages, they are exemplary of one type of prior art arrangement. These instruments provide for the selection of oscillators and filters, where the oscillators generate the desired tones and the filters shape and combine the waveforms to generate complex sounds. The oscillators and filters are analog devices, selected with operator switches and controls. These analog devices are limited in capability and do not easily lend themselves to monolithic processes.
The prior and subsequent art is further defined in the art-of-record of the related applications in the chain of continuing applications including U.S. Pat. No. 2,690,474 to Edgar; U.S. Pat. No. 2,897,638 to Maker; U.S. Pat. No. 3,012,724 to Williams; U.S. Pat. No. 3,088,661 to Brigham; U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,165 to Clapper; U.S. Pat. No. 3,142,820 to Daniels; U.S. Pat. No. 3,215,987 to Terzian; U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,074 to French; U.S. Pat. No. 3,248,708 to Haynes; U.S. Pat. No. 3,253,263 to Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 3,281,789 to Willcox; U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,107 to Shipp; U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,071 to Goldman; U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,239 to Ragland; U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,853 to Koster; U.S. Pat. No. 3,356,836 to Stenby; U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,025 to Ragland; U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,404 to Koster; U.S. Pat. No. 3,398,241 to Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 3,403,227 to Malm; U.S. Pat. No. 3,440,618 to Chinlund; U.S. Pat. No. 3,462,743 to Miller; U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,644 to Gold; U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,975 to Bobeck; U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,078 to Perkins; U.S. Pat. No. 3,560,933 to Schwartz; U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,365 to Rawson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,370 to Worthington; U.S. Pat. No. 3,576,433 to Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,201 to Langley; U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,912 to Beavers; U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,014 to Vogel; U.S. Pat. No. 3,584,781 to Edison; U.S. Pat. No. 3,584,782 to Bergland; U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,085 to Baxter; U.S. Pat. No. 3,588,353 to Martin; U.S. Pat. No. 3,588,838 to Felcheck; U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,313 to Tomaszewski; U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,901 to Dixton Teh-Chao Jen; U.S. Pat. No. 3,611,347 to Gingell; U.S. Pat. No. 3,619,590 to Barger; U.S. Pat. No. 3,631,403 to Asbro; U.S. Pat. No. 3,631,408 to Kubo; U.S. Pat. No. 3,634,883 to Kreidermacher; U.S. Pat. No. 3,639,691 to Benninghof; U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,329 to De Sandro; U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,496 to Slavin; U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,558 to Cook; U.S. Pat. No. 3,646,522 to Furman; U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,001 to Ninke; U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,708 to Brudner; U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,275 to Marshall; U.S. Pat. No. 3,673,576 to Donaldson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,656 to Schmidt; U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,875 to Rawson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,681,756 to Burkhard; U.S. Pat. No. 3,681,757 to Allen; U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,637 to Zachar; U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,271 to Rouse; U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,988 to Haney; U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,609 to Gluth; U.S. Pat. No. 3,704,345 to Coker; U.S. Pat. No. 3,723,655 to Zucker; U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,190 to Vogelman; U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,710 to Berg; U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,863 to Rowland; U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,725 to Fletcher; U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,030 to Kuljian; U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,069 to Hershberg; U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,452 to Ruben; U.S. Pat. No. 3,757,308 to Fosdick; U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,171 to Wang; U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,752 to Lorenzo; U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,756 to Balser; U.S. Pat. No. 3,778,774 to Phillips; U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,106 to Nadler; U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,071 to Angus; U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,132 to Flanagan; U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,717 to Gagnon; U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,818 to Barton; U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,514 to Faber; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,919 to Ichikawa and including the articles Computer Controlled Audio Output by Buchholz in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin vol. 3 No. 5 dated Oct. 1960 at page 60; Speech Digitizer and Synthesizer by Bandat in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin vol. 7 No. 11 dated Apr. 1965 at pages 974 and 975; Dersch in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin vol. 5 No. 5 dated Oct. 1962; Electronic Navigator Charts Man's Path To The Moon by Hopkins in Electronics Magazine dated January 9, 1967 at pages 109-118; System Utilization Of Large-Scale Integration by Levy et al. in the IEEE Transactions On Computers dated October 1967 at pages 562-566; System Architecture For Large Scale Integration by Beelitz et al. in the AFIPS Conference Proceedings dated Nov. 1967 at pages 185-200; Adder On A Chip! LSI Helps Reduce Cost Of Small Machine by Boysel in Electronics Magazine dated March 18, 1968 at pages 119-124; Microprogrammable Digital Computer by Micro Systems, Inc. in Computer Design Magazine dated May 1969 at page 69; and Handbook by Microdata QA76.6 M5, C.2; which references are all incorporated herein by reference as constituting pertinent prior and subsequent art.
An object of this invention is to provide a practical audionic system.
A further object of this invention is to provide an audionic calculator system.
A further object of this invention is to provide an audionic clock system.
A further object of this invention is to provide a concentrated speech communication system.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an audionic medical testor.
The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of this invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.